ABSTRACT

The majority of the studies on luxury brands have focused on examining the determinants of customers’ positive behaviour and identified the crucial role of authentic experiences. Although customers’ perceived authenticity is the core concept in the brand management context, only a few studies have examined the role of authenticity in the luxury service setting. Many luxury hotel brands have communicated recently with customers with authentic experiences. Thus this study examines the relationship among perceived benefits, brand authenticity and willingness to pay premium. Partial least squared-structural equation modelling is used to test the effects of the preceding variables on customers’ positive behavioural intention. Data are collected from an online survey platform consisting of 177 luxury hotel customers in the USA. Findings suggest that self and social benefits influence customers’ perceived authenticity, while the perceived benefit is insufficient to create positive behavioural intention. Brand authenticity directly and indirectly influences customers’ intention to pay premium for luxury hotel brands. Thus reinforcing the authenticity of luxury service brands can strengthen the impact of perceived benefits on company performance.

摘要

大多数关于奢侈品牌的研究都集中在检验顾客积极行为的决定因素，并确定了真实体验的关键作用。尽管顾客感知的真实性是品牌管理背景下的核心概念，但只有少数研究考察了真实性在奢侈品服务环境中的作用。许多豪华酒店品牌最近与具有真实体验的客户进行了交流。因此，本研究考察了感知利益、品牌真实性和支付溢价意愿之间的关系。偏最小二乘结构方程模型用于检验上述变量对顾客积极行为意图的影响。数据来自一个由美国 177 名豪华酒店客户组成的在线调查平台。研究结果表明，自我利益和社会利益影响客户的真实性感知，而感知利益不足以产生积极的行为意图。品牌真实性直接和间接影响客户为豪华酒店品牌支付溢价的意愿。因此，加强奢侈服务品牌的真实性可以加强感知利益对公司绩效的影响。